Unlike many other students, I go to an international school in Asia. I've never been to a public American School, and the only other schools I've ever attended was 3 years of public Taiwanese school in elementary.

Some of you might wonder how 'wonderful' it must be to attend an international school; well, it is pretty wonderful, for the most part. The facilities are amazing and all the faculty and staff are so talented, and you get to meet so many different people with such different stories to tell. But there also is a downside to all this.

The academic pressure, at least for the international school I attend, is huge; not particularly on me though, it's just a school-wide expectation that everyone just has to be as academically competitive as they can be. Not only does the stereotype of "all Asians are smart" become true in my school, all the other people are just as smart too! There is never a moment *although you may not see this in my grades* that the students are not going hard and trying to get the best grades they possibly can.

Next, being in an international school means not getting too attached the people around you. As most people in international schools have parents that work either for a government, or for a company that moved the job (temporarily) to the country, it is not uncommon for fellow students to leave one year and come back another. In fact, I have had many many friends that have moved away to attend another international school when their parent's job required them to. It is sad, but something I have learned to adjust to.

These things are only the tip of the ice burg of what it's like to attend an international school: the good and the bad.